UKC

Unfortunately I have managed to pick up the a couple of dings in the last few months on the car. Both were my own doing - the first when I stupidly didn't lash the bicycle handlebars down tight enough and they rubbed a pocket of paint from the roof whilst in transit; and the second a deeper parking scratch / dent on the OS rear door when I neglected to spot a bolt helpfully sticking out from a concrete pillar in a multi-story.

Looking around on various websites and also on eBay I am at a bit of a loss to work out what is best to improve the appearance. I will try and buff some of the scratches out with T-Cut or similar (nothwithstanding that T-Cut has limitations beyond anything other than pretty superficial damage) but I want to also fill in where the paint has been scraped away. The car is a Mazda and the colour is 3L (Silver Stone) which is basically metallic silver.

There are various companies offering "touch up paint" some with integrated lacquer, some without; also there are the official Mazda products "touch up paint pen" and "touch up kit set"; some are offering aerosol sprays; and I've even seen someone advocating using Enamel paint for small repairs.

Can any of you give me a steer in terms of what is going to achieve the most cost effective and practical outcome? I don't need it to be perfect by any stretch, but I would like to cover the exposed metal without it looking like I've just dipped a paintbrush in a can of Dulux and slapped it on.

Thank you in advance to you all.

In reply to Bootsy:
Honestly, in my experience those touch up pens are worse than useless. Especially on metallic paint. I tried every trick and technique going but just couldn't get a good finish. Took it to a pro, best 80 quid ever spent. If you are down to metal it's probably to deep for diy repair without sanding a large section anyhow.

In reply to Bootsy:
It is worth a try before paying someone else. At least you want to stop the corrosion in the short term. Touch up pen is the way to go. Spray cans will be too difficult to use on metallic paint, as the colour changes with depth of paint (how the metallic particles stand).

It is very simple but a few tips... Be sure to clean to degrease and remove sillicons with a spirit (ideally spirit that doesn't leave a oil based residue like white spirit, meths is better). Use a sharp pin or very sharp screw to carefully remove any corrosion in the chip or scratch. Do the minimum to remove any loose paint and don't enlarge the chip/scratch or remove sound zinc coating. Dab in the paint carefully on the scratch only, do not overlap sound paint more than a fraction of a millimeter. One or two colour coats usually sufficient. Apply clear laquer over the top if the touch up paint came with two pots.

I've been touching up stone chips on the same car for 14 years in the above way and it has lasted very well.

In reply to Bootsy:

I have to sadly say touch up paint isn't going to do it. sadly because I love to have a go at anything and find a way to make it work but in this case it isn't. Older cars were a lot easier to touch up, the paint was softer than modern baked on paints and new paint could be faded into old but not on modern cars. The gouge will need to be filled up to the level of the surface for a start and then colour matched. colour matching using a reader or colour chips to get it just right. metallics are a pain as the tiny ali flakes that make the shimmer and sparkle are all air pressure dependant. The new paint has to go on with the right air pressure to the gun so the flakes lie at the same depth in the paint. Its a science in itself and best left to the experts. Dent devils or similar franchise would prob sort you out for somewhere in the region of £100 or so if not too big an area. good luck

In reply to Bootsy:

Thank you all for your replies.

I've made enquiries with one or two mobile dent / scratch repair companies and will see what they come back with. I also spoke to someone locally who suggested the approach MaxWilliam advocates ie. build up with layers of paint then lacquer it.

The car is already a good age (1997) so I can't justify spending much - just a shame to have damaged it now having driven it for 8yrs without adding so much a graze to the paintwork!